1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to fluid engines which are activated by a heat source.
The heat source is centralized inside the engine in between the working fluid, therefore, no external fuel supply is needed as long as the heat source stays active. This is a very unique design with great potential, the machine operates in slow motion, there is no dead center involved, meaning no idling speed is needed to do physical work.
2. Prior Art:
Prior engines vary in efficiency by different R.P.M.s Not so with the present invention which can store the energy and use it when it is needed with almost the same efficiency regardless of the R.P.M. The present invention is a completely independent engine.
My prior patent entitled Power Wheel, U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,970, is designed for oceanic mining and therefore operates by a solid working fluid which does not change its phase. The present invention can operate with a phase changing fluid. Additionally, the valve functioning of the previous power wheel is controlled by gravitational force. Not so with the present invention which regulates valve functioning through a fixed cam installed around the circumference covering half of the action radius to move valve plungers by surface contact inwards against spring pressure, whereby the working fluid is channeled from the pressure cell into a cooling reservoir. This shortens the cooling off period and thereby increases the power output. The previous invention has no cooling reservoir and therefore no valve functioning because the housing of the expansion valves is exposed to the surrounding cold sea water, therefore, the present invention is an entire different design.
Moore, U.S. Pat. No. 3,549,490 and L. B. Borst, U.S. Pat. No. 3,127,321, describe nuclear reciprocating reactors activated by a critical mass and therefore includes complex cooling systems and utility systems which is quite different from the present multiple power wheel which does not operate on a nuclear critical mass or any other nuclear reactor system.
The present multiple power wheel is a heat engine introducing a new thermodynamic cycle, to bypass all outside controls and utility systems. The energy needed to activate the machine is an internal heat source, i.e., radio isotopic heat elements. Radio isotopic heat elements require no operator controls since they are inherently self regulating and will release energy steadily and effectively over the lifetime of the fuel.
Danish Pat. No. 34422 introduces a heat engine with gas expansion where the rotary motion is introduced by piston via connection rods and crank shaft which requires a large volume exchange by an external energy supply through the drive shaft of the engine. All three prior art references are completely different in design and functioning and cannot be compared to the present invention.